My experience at Pride Park...

[westbrom1404]

Hello!

You've probably seen me posting around now and again in these forums and just going to start a thread to basically talk about my experiences (so far) at Pride Park. Seen as I've nearly finished my major assignment.. 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

To put it all in context, I have to admit after that dreaded day at Wembley I never thought I'd be going to Pride Park now and again supporting Derby. But despite that, I've always liked Derby as a club as a whole, a team that aren't "easy to hate" such as teams like West Ham, Millwall and...Nottingham Forest.

So, I didn't go to see Derby play in my first year at University, not sure why as I didn't go back every weekend (as I do now to see the Albion play) like I do this year. The first game was on a average Tuesday night against Charlton, it was one of the games where we literally decided to go at 20 past 7, and called a taxi which only cost £4 to get to the stadium.

I previously went to Pride Park in the 2-2 game a few years ago, but I can barely remember what it looked like. So when I saw the ground in September, I was thoroughly impressed, it seemed to have a nice mix of modern and old with the old Derby logo imprinted on the outside while having a look of a proper football ground. For Charlton and Barnsley we sat in the South West Corner, and for being in the cheapest area I thought we got a brilliant view, being higher up than most, on the corner and being next to the away, we did get a hint of the atmosphere.

Mentioning the atmosphere, it does seem quite subdued at times but take into the account these were both midweek games with uninspiring away turnouts. However, when the atmosphere did rise, it was actually quite loud and for big games against Forest and Leeds I'm sure it will be loud for most. Yesterday, me and my mate (who has been in the ground before but not for a game) sat in the North Stand, in row DD so only a few rows up from the pitch. It is recognizably much more difficult to create an atmosphere being that low down especially in the first half, in the second half the atmosphere was pretty good in my opinion (again, taking into account Cardiff's surprisingly bad following). It was good to see the fans getting behind the team when they were 1-0 down, especially the South East Corner which were singing for the majority of the game.

So, to summarise, you've earned a few fans. I never believed in supporting two clubs, and to some extent I never will due to my loyalty to the mighty Baggies. Despite that, I'm looking forward to going to some more games, these being the most likely: Leeds (already bought tickets), Wolves (hehe), Bolton (cheap) and I think Bristol City? If that is the one that is on the Friday night.

P.S just remembered my girlfriend was sad not to go last night (I received 2 free tickets), and she doesn't even like football!

Any questions I'll happily answer! Boing boing!

[Duracell]

Good to see you've enjoyed yourself, and I respect you giving us a go. I would try my local team at Uni but I'm not too keen on Forest if I'm honest.

If you're worried about supporting two teams, don't be. My Uncle's had a season ticket at Norwich and Ipswich for 20 years now.

Mind you, they're all proper weirdos over there.

Interesting what you say about us being difficult to hate, but I suppose it makes sense. The past few years we've been too busy losing and being bad at football to make any enemies.

[westbrom1404]

Good to see you've enjoyed yourself, and I respect you giving us a go. I would try my local team at Uni but I'm not too keen on Forest if I'm honest.

If you're worried about supporting two teams, don't be. My Uncle's had a season ticket at Norwich and Ipswich for 20 years now.

Mind you, they're all proper weirdos over there.

Interesting what you say about us being difficult to hate, but I suppose it makes sense. The past few years we've been too busy losing and being bad at football to make any enemies.

I've never liked Forest. My brother has a soft spot for them because he went to Uni there as well, there's something about them I don't like. Arrogance? Maybe they remind me of Villa with this European Cup thing, I don't know.

Fair play to your uncle, I could never be a season ticket holder with WBA and Villa OR Wba and Villa though, no way haha 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

Yeah, quite a bad phrase to be honest with you but compared to other teams Derby are pretty harmless. I think there is still a small notion of animosity between the Albion and Derby because of the Playoffs. Maybe as well because of the West vs East Midlands thing.

[Alph]

Glad you've enjoyed it mate. Would be good to be playing WBA again soon. Always means a bit more heated banter and emotion than Burnley and Reading. There's a lot of passionate fixtures in the Midlands. It's games that you don't mind the freezing cold and rain and traffic.

It's probably a bad thing that a lot of fans 'don't mind Derby'. Clearly we've not been ruffling feathers. But still, it's great we're a small enough town to make DCFC feel like a small club but we have the passion here for football to make it into a big(ish) club. We still have a touch of that family feel. Maybe lots of clubs have it, but in massive cities with multiple clubs I can imagine any 'buzz' is lost a bit. Here, it's pretty much Derby County on every corner. Unless you include the odd Man City armchair fan.

I guess when you live away from your team you either naturally adopt a local side or you end up disliking them. Just because of the tribal way of football here.

Hope we can have a PL with;

Brum

Villa

WBA

Wolves

Forest

Stoke

Sheff U

Sheff Wed

.... Not Leeds though *spit*

Plenty of exciting atmospheres. I'm sure it'd suit Sky too.

Bolton

Blackburn

Wigan

Burnley

..... Zzzz

[westbrom1404]

Glad you've enjoyed it mate. Would be good to be playing WBA again soon. Always means a bit more heated banter and emotion than Burnley and Reading. There's a lot of passionate fixtures in the Midlands. It's games that you don't mind the freezing cold and rain and traffic.

It's probably a bad thing that a lot of fans 'don't mind Derby'. Clearly we've not been ruffling feathers. But still, it's great we're a small enough town to make DCFC feel like a small club but we have the passion here for football to make it into a big(ish) club. We still have a touch of that family feel. Maybe lots of clubs have it, but in massive cities with multiple clubs I can imagine any 'buzz' is lost a bit. Here, it's pretty much Derby County on every corner. Unless you include the odd Man City armchair fan.

I guess when you live away from your team you either naturally adopt a local side or you end up disliking them. Just because of the tribal way of football here.

Hope we can have a PL with;

Brum

Villa

WBA

Wolves

Forest

Stoke

Sheff U

Sheff Wed

.... Not Leeds though *spit*

Plenty of exciting atmospheres. I'm sure it'd suit Sky too.

Bolton

Blackburn

Wigan

Burnley

..... Zzzz

Definitely, think it was noticeable (even though I watched it on Sky) that Derby v Birmingham was a lot more heated than it was last night.

I see your point, Derby are similar to the Albion in that way. The Wba forum I'm on does a Q and A with the upcoming opponent and the majority fans always say that they like us... We also have a family feel to the club which is why at the moment our fan base are in dreamland, 3rd in the table AND look at Wolves, Villa and Blues!

Ah, that's where we differ, it would be nice to have Derby, Forest, Leicester in the Prem, but as far as Wolves and Blues go, they can just stay where they are 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

One thing i dislike about matchday at Pride Park so far...Steve Bloomers Watching before the game, so many fond memories..............

[randombc]

Got to agree with Duracell on this one, if i had to support my local team at uni it would have to be Forest!

No thanks.

[Animal is a Ram]

I get the choice of either Sheffield clubs.. Tough call.

'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ph34r' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' />

[Guest]

thanks for the comments and ur support. interesting to note the change in fortunes of both clubs since that fateful day in 2006. we'd swap places any day!

wow i cant beleive u dont go to the baggies more often?! 3rd in the prem! wow what great football and organisation under steve clarke. i knew he'd make it as a number 1 given the chance.

[westbrom1404]

I get the choice of either Sheffield clubs.. Tough call.

'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ph34r' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' />

I'd go for Wednesday, purely because we have a little history with Sheffield United..

thanks for the comments and ur support. interesting to note the change in fortunes of both clubs since that fateful day in 2006. we'd swap places any day!

wow i cant beleive u dont go to the baggies more often?! 3rd in the prem! wow what great football and organisation under steve clarke. i knew he'd make it as a number 1 given the chance.

I know, I was talking to my Dad about this. To be honest, I think we would have gone down as well if we went up, that squad was full of ego.

No I do! I go to every home game (apart from the odd midweek) and about a quarter of the away games. It was last year where I didn't go as much. Season-ticket holder ever since I was about 4-5 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Won't be going tonight though, Swansea away, 35 pound. But, superb so far, living in dreamland at the moment honestly. We're a brilliant example for others (sorry to be big headed), barely any money spent, the core of the squad has been kept for 4-5 years, and gradually added to it with Dan Ashworth's (Sporting and Technical director) brilliant knowledge.

[Bris Vegas]

It's the foreign players that WBA have brought through over the years that's made all the difference.. Those that totally disregard the foreign market is simply stupid...

WBA have been dabbing away at the foreign market for years now.. Even when we played that playoff final they had the likes of Sodje, Kamara, Koren, Gera and since then they've had a host of foreigners that's worked wonders for them.. Now they've got the likes of popov, Tamas, Olsson, Yacob, Yulumbu, Odemwingie, Rosenberg, Fortune.. Not to mention obvious buying the best players from NPC clubs that have made a difference like Brunt, Morrison, Myhill, McAuley..

Everything about WBA is great for a team in that position.. Norwich have got a good base by buying quality NPC players if they can tap the foreign market too they'll shoot right up..

All that in contrast to when we went up.. We bought literally no foreign players and wasted millions on average NPC players and expected them to compete in the top flight..

Odemwignie must go down as one of the biggest bargains made in the past few years..

[CloughIsBoring]

Odemwignie must go down as one of the biggest bargains made in the past few years..

He was utter dross playing for Lokomotiv Moscow (cost them [size=1][size=4]$14.000.000)[/size]. [/size]I guess they don't miss him at all.

[url=http://www.radikal.ru]http://s018.radikal.ru/i525/1211/77/8be69231c0f6

Agree with you about foreign players though. I am bored to death with these "honest" british players.

Who have no ability on the ball at all. Giles Barnes was the last our british i liked to watch. Commons not far away.

[mozza]

I've always had a soft spot for 'the baggies', 'our Steve'(Brummie) lives close

to them, but my regard for them goes back a long way before he lived there,

working with the 'boing,boings' they are a great set of lads, not arrogant like

the Villa lot,

reet characters, good laugh, similar to us really 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

[Alph]

Not mardy like Brum either. For a team that loses as much as it wins then you'd think Birmingham fans could take it on the chin instead of trying to kick off all the time. Bring a decent atmosphere though.

[westbrom1404]

It's the foreign players that WBA have brought through over the years that's made all the difference.. Those that totally disregard the foreign market is simply stupid...

WBA have been dabbing away at the foreign market for years now.. Even when we played that playoff final they had the likes of Sodje, Kamara, Koren, Gera and since then they've had a host of foreigners that's worked wonders for them.. Now they've got the likes of popov, Tamas, Olsson, Yacob, Yulumbu, Odemwingie, Rosenberg, Fortune.. Not to mention obvious buying the best players from NPC clubs that have made a difference like Brunt, Morrison, Myhill, McAuley..

Everything about WBA is great for a team in that position.. Norwich have got a good base by buying quality NPC players if they can tap the foreign market too they'll shoot right up..

All that in contrast to when we went up.. We bought literally no foreign players and wasted millions on average NPC players and expected them to compete in the top flight..

Odemwignie must go down as one of the biggest bargains made in the past few years..

Dan Ashworth is to thank for all that, going to miss him when he goes to the FA though :/ his knowledge is superb, Yacob is exceptional, love him. Mulumbu has been our most consistent. Gera is a huge fan favourite from when he joined us first time.

As for the NPA players, again Ashworth along with Di Matteo, Hodgson's and Clarke's knowledge has helped. McAuley, despite the fact he can't pass is a solid defender in the air, while Morrison was our best player last year. Brunt is a little frustrating at times, a little overrated in my opinion.

He was utter dross playing for Lokomotiv Moscow (cost them [size=1][size=4]$14.000.000)[/size]. [/size]I guess they don't miss him at all.

[url=http://www.radikal.ru]http://s018.radikal.ru/i525/1211/77/8be69231c0f6

Agree with you about foreign players though. I am bored to death with these "honest" british players.

Who have no ability on the ball at all. Giles Barnes was the last our british i liked to watch. Commons not far away.

Odemwingie...first season he was brilliant, but there were moments where he didn't seem THAT interested. Last year he started to get a few critics from our fans, which I thought was unfair. I do like him though, especially as an impact sub.

I've always had a soft spot for 'the baggies', 'our Steve'(Brummie) lives close

to them, but my regard for them goes back a long way before he lived there,

working with the 'boing,boings' they are a great set of lads, not arrogant like

the Villa lot,

reet characters, good laugh, similar to us really 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Villa, urgh. Arrogance personified. Blues are just an annoying bunch that will pop up when everybody else lose and they win. Wolves are just Wolves. I live in a town that is full of Albion and Villa fans, so I dislike the Villa more than anything.

Not mardy like Brum either. For a team that loses as much as it wins then you'd think Birmingham fans could take it on the chin instead of trying to kick off all the time. Bring a decent atmosphere though.

What were our fans like in that 2-2 game at Pride Park if you can remember? Average? Louder than average? I remember at Wembley, it is pretty hard to create an atmosphere.

[westbrom1404]

Oh and my tickets for Leeds at home have arrived!

[Animal is a Ram]

Oh and my tickets for Leeds at home have arrived!

Hope we give you a taste of what PP can do in some cases - albeit extreme ones!

[westbrom1404]

Hope we give you a taste of what PP can do in some cases - albeit extreme ones!

I won't be able to shout as much at Leeds than I did at Cardiff though because I'm with my girlfriend...gotta be on my best behaviour 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> but I always sing along, and always clapping 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> "and itss Derby Countyyy, Derby County FC, they're by far the du du du du"... that part is saved for the mighty Albion 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> hehe!